Born in tiny North, South Carolina to Mamie Kitt, who was of Cherokee and African-American descent, and an American father (surname Kitt) of German and Dutch descent, she was raised by her maternal aunt Anna Mae Riley, whom she believed was her mother up until after Riley's death, when she was sent to live in New York City with her real mother.
Kitt began her career as a member of the Katherine Dunham Company and made her film debut with them in Casbah (1948). A talented singer with a distinctive voice, her hits include Let's Do It, C'est Si Bon (It's So Good), Just an Old Fashioned Girl, Monotonous, Love for Sale, I'd Rather Be Burned as a Witch, Uska Dara, Mink, Schmink, Under the Bridges of Paris, and arguably her most recognizable hit, the sexily sung Christmas song Santa Baby. She sang quite a few songs in French, a language she picked up during her years performing in Europe, but she never lost her American accent, which made her French songs sound rather amusing to native French speakers. She dabbled in other languages as well, which she demonstrated in many of the live recordings of her cabaret performances.
In 1950, Orson Welles gave her her first starring role, as Helen of Troy in his staging of Dr. Faustus. A few years later, she was cast in the revue New Faces of 1952, introducing "Monotonous", "C'est Si Bon" and "Santa Baby", three songs with which she continues to be identified. During her run, 20th Century Fox filmed a version of the play. Welles and Kitt allegedly had a torrid affair during her run in Shinbone Alley, which earned her the nickname by Welles as "the most exciting woman in the world". In 1958, Kitt made her feature film debut opposite Sidney Poitier in The Mark of the Hawk. Throughout the rest of the 1950s and early 1960s, Kitt would work on and off in film, television and on nightclub stages. In the late 1960s television series Batman, she played Catwoman after Julie Newmar left the role. This was the role for which she would best be remembered, owing to her purring feline drawl.
In 1968, however, Kitt encountered a substantial professional setback after she made anti-war statements during a White House luncheon that reportedly made First Lady Lady Bird Johnson weep uncontrollably. Professionally exiled from the U.S., she devoted her energies to overseas performances before returning to New York in a triumphant turn in the Broadway spectacle Timbuktu! (a version of the perennial Kismet set in Africa) in 1978. In the musical, one song gives a 'recipe' for mahoun, a preparation of cannabis, in which her sultry purring rendition of the refrain "constantly stirring with a long wooden spoon" was distinctive.
In 1984, she returned to hit music with a dance song, Where Is My Man; the first certified Gold record of her career. Kitt found new audiences in nightclubs across the country, including a whole new generation of gay male fans, and she responded by frequently giving benefit performances in support of HIV/AIDS organizations.
In 2000, Kitt again returned to Broadway in the short but notable run of the revival of the 1920s-themed, The Wild Party, opposite Mandy Patinkin and Toni Collette. In 2003, she replaced Chita Rivera in Nine. In recent years she had also appeared as the Wicked Witch in the North American national touring company of The Wizard of Oz.
One of her more unusual roles was as Kaa the python in a 1994 BBC Radio adaptation of The Jungle Book. Kitt lent her distinctive voice to the role of Yzma in Disney's The Emperor's New Groove and also did other voiceover work such as the voice of Queen Vexus on the animated TV series My Life as a Teenage Robot. She continued her role as Yzma on the spin-off TV series of The Emperor's New Groove, The Emperor's New School.
In recent years, Kitt's annual appearances in New York made her a fixture of the Manhattan cabaret scene. She took the stage at venues such as the Ballroom and, more recently, the Café Carlyle to explore and define her highly stylized image, alternating between signature songs (such as "Old Fashioned Millionaire"), which emphasized a witty, mercenary world-weariness, and less familiar repertoire, much of which she performed with an unexpected ferocity and bite that presented her as a survivor with a seemingly bottomless reservoir of resilience - her version of Here's to Life, frequently used as a closing number, was a sterling example of the latter. This side of her later performances is reflected in at least one of her recordings, Thinking Jazz, which preserves a series of performances with a small jazz combo that took place in the early 1990s in Germany, and which includes both standards (Smoke Gets in Your Eyes) and numbers (such as Something May Go Wrong) that seem more specifically tailored to her talents; one version of the CD includes as bonus performances a fierce, angry Yesterdays and a live take of "C'est Si Bon" that good-humoredly satirizes her sex-kitten persona.
Personal life
Kitt was married to John William McDonald, an associate of a real-estate investment company, from 1960 to 1965. They had one child, a daughter, Kitt (b. 1962, married Charles Lawrence Shapiro); and two grandchildren, Jason and Rachel Shapiro.
Eartha Kitt died of colon cancer on Christmas Day, December 25, 2008.
Somebody Bad Stole De Wedding Bell
Eartha Kitt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Somebody bad stole de wedding bell
Somebody bad stole de wedding bell
Now, nobody can get married
Who's got the ding dong who's got the bell
Who's got the ding dong who's got the bell
Somebody know but nobody tell
We got sarsaparilla soda on the ice
We got shoes and rice and free advice
We got a bridal suite in Honeymoon Hotel
But what good is that without a wedding bell
Somebody bad stole de wedding bell
Somebody bad stole de wedding bell
Somebody bad stole de wedding bell
Now, nobody can get married
Who's got the ding dong who's got the bell
Who's got the ding dong who's got the bell
Somebody know but nobody tell
Cause somebody bad stole de wedding bell
All day the people look at the steeple
But they don't see the bell
We got very fine detective, Shiller Gun
And he's sure to question every man
So in the marketplace where people buy and sell
He's sure to arrest the one who sells the bell
Who's got the ding dong who's got the bell
Who's got the ding dong who's got the bell
Somebody know but nobody tell
Cause somebody bad stole de wedding bell
We got solos by the island singing band
We got lots of sun and lots of sand
We got lover's moon we got a wishing well
And oh how I wish we had a wedding bell
Somebody bad stole de wedding bell
Somebody bad stole de wedding bell
Somebody bad stole de wedding bell
Now, nobody can get married
Who's got the ding dong who's got the bell
Who's got the ding dong who's got the bell
Somebody know but nobody tell
Cause somebody bad stole de wedding bell
In Eartha Kitt's song 'Somebody Bad Stole The Wedding Bell,' the lyrics paint a picture of a town that has all the fixings for a wedding celebration, except for one crucial element - the wedding bell. The bell is stolen by an unknown culprit, leaving the townspeople in a state of panic as they cannot properly celebrate their weddings without it. Throughout the song, the singer asks who has the bell, but no one seems to know or is willing to speak up.
The song sets the stage for a lighthearted and comical storyline, as it highlights the trivial nature of the bell in the grand scheme of things. However, it also shows that oftentimes it's the little things, like a wedding bell, that can bring people together and make a celebration complete. It's a reminder to appreciate and not take for granted the small details that make life special.
Kitt's performance in this song showcases her incredible vocal range and her ability to seamlessly blend multiple genres of music, including jazz and pop. The upbeat melody and playful lyrics make it a fun and memorable addition to her discography.
Line by Line Meaning
Somebody bad stole de wedding bell
Someone with ill intentions has taken the wedding bell
Now, nobody can get married
The lack of the wedding bell has caused all weddings to be impossible
Who's got the ding dong who's got the bell
Who has possession of the wedding bell
Somebody know but nobody tell
Someone has knowledge of the bell's whereabouts, but they are not sharing that information
We got sarsaparilla soda on the ice
Refreshments are available for the wedding guests, including sarsaparilla soda served on ice
We got shoes and rice and free advice
Additional wedding amenities are provided, such as footwear, rice for throwing, and complimentary advice
We got a bridal suite in Honeymoon Hotel
A luxurious bridal suite is available for the newlyweds in the Honeymoon Hotel
But what good is that without a wedding bell
Having these luxurious accommodations are pointless without the necessary wedding bell
All day the people look at the steeple
People spend their day admiring the bell tower
But they don't see the bell
Despite the tower being viewed, the bell is nowhere to be found
We got very fine detective, Shiller Gun
An excellent detective by the name of Shiller Gun has been hired to solve the case of the missing bell
And he's sure to question every man
The detective will thoroughly interrogate every person involved in the ceremony
So in the marketplace where people buy and sell
The detective will also search the marketplace where items can be bought and sold
He's sure to arrest the one who sells the bell
The detective is confident that he will catch the thief who sold the bell
We got solos by the island singing band
Entertainment is provided by a solo performance by a band from an island
We got lots of sun and lots of sand
An outdoor wedding with an abundance of sunshine and sand is guaranteed
We got lover's moon we got a wishing well
Romantic features are present during the ceremony such as a beautiful moon and a wishing well
And oh how I wish we had a wedding bell
The singer laments the loss of the wedding bell and wishes it could be retrieved
Contributed by Natalie O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.